Schiermonnikoog

Like most places in the world, the Netherlands is home to several booming cities (in addition to neighboring towns and sleepy distant provinces) and a few vacation islands. Schiermonnikoog is one of them and to many natives it's considered the less interesting one, but to everyone else it's the overabundant mud haven which is impossible to pronounce. The trip was arranged through CIEE and intended to be a sort of a camp/country outing. To get to Schiermonnikoog you must first get to Groningen (the other Dutch city we went to about a month ago) and then take a ferry--it's a schelp is what I'm trying to say.

Once we got off the boat, we got our bikes and we literally rode off into the sunset along the greenest fields I have ever seen. Along one side were whitewashed stones and sea and on the other were hills of green. Our destination was a cabin situated on one of the quiet streets of the town. There was a kitchen and eating area and several rooms stocked with bunk beds--camp like every cliche. In true camp fashion we stayed up late playing some silly game until we trudged our bodies to bed, setting our alarms for 5:00 AM to wake up to do some mud-walking (pictures on facebook). I had bought cheap boots for the occasion for which I praised myself, only to find that the mud was stronger than my intution. There were moments I couldn't move without falling deeper into my semi-soft, but always threatening, dirt surroundings (at which point the early morning "breeze" was a hell of a bonus). When I finally un-submerged my feet from the treacherous, all-consuming mud, I took a look around where we were: miles of uncovered, low tide--with the sun just slightly hovering above. I never thought mud could be so picturesque.

After the mud walking we rode around Schiermonnikoog, through the trails in the forest, along the various green fields, and by the beach. It epitomized "scenic." That same night we had a bonfire on the beach where many of the boys showed off their boyscouting abilities in building a fire. Like I said, camp.

And by that I mean Wonderful!